Legislative Efforts in Montana

Our team actively tracks the Montana Legislature and various state/regional agencies for any possibility to strengthen buffalo conservation—or fight against efforts to weaken the few existing protections.

We also regularly attend public hearings, uncover and share public information, and seek to engage YOU, the taxpayers and voting public, in buffalo defense actions whenever possible!

Would you like more information about our Legislative Efforts?

More specifically, we also:

Work to replace the failed Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP Background, PDF, 1 page) with a plan based on the best available science.

Battle the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) at every opportunity. APHIS is one of five agencies carrying out the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP), and the federal agency responsible for the national brucellosis eradication program. It is solely responsible for designating the brucellosis status of individual states. This deserves a few more words...

All of the funds spent by the state of Montana to implement the IBMP come from APHIS as part of their annual $9 million brucellosis eradication budget. APHIS is the federal arm of corporate agri-business. In addition to disease control, APHIS administers the grossly inappropriately named "wildlife services" division (formerly known as animal damage control) and administers the shooting, poisoning, and trapping of millions of wild animals deemed to be “pests” to agribusiness, including prairie dogs, ravens, coyotes, beavers, foxes, opossums, and countless other non-commercial species. Ironically, APHIS also administers the Animal Welfare Act, which is theoretically designed to protect livestock from inhumane treatment. In practice, this is akin to designating the Nazi SS as watchdogs for the treatment of Jewish prisoners in WW2.

We fight against Yellowstone's plans to initiate an operational quarantine plan for wild bison. Our opposition to quarantine, including Yellowstone's current proposal for "Operational Quarantine,” include:

The forced removal of bison calves from their habitat in the Yellowstone ecosystem and their family groups;

The inhumane treatment and inevitable injuies and deaths suffered throughout the process of capture, handling, and transport;

Domestication of bison that “graduate” from the study for release;

The use of quarantine as an excuse for intensive IMBP management actions (i.e.: massive hazing to capture/quarantine a few animals);

A lack of a corresponding process of NEPA compliance from APHIS;

The overall cost of the project; and

The lack of a cost/benefit analysis of alternative means to allow wild bison to access their natural habitat on the hoof, under their own power.

Legislative work is time intensive, requires scientist-level attention to detail, and “Spock-like” logical thinking. The buffalo are fortunate to have a few fine humans working for them through the legislative channels at BFC.

BFC's goal is to stop the slaughter and harassment of Yellowstone's wild buffalo herds, protect the natural habitat of wild free-roaming buffalo and native wildlife, and to work with people of all Nations to honor the sacredness of wild buffalo.